DangerBoy

Sorry, I didn't see there was a second page so I wrote a long post saying it's dried algae/biofilm and you'll need to use a strong acid to remove it. Most boat hull algae removers contain phosphoric and/or oxalic acid. I used Muriatic like you did but I diluted it 50/50 with water. I don't think using baking soda to neutralize the acid is necessary. Just spray everything down hard with a pressure washer using lots of water to dilute the acid and you'll be fine. ;)

@Brewski That's a great little collection of wood skis. That Connelly in the corner looks quite unusual with the high contrasting veneers on the outside and middle of the top sheet. @6_Buoys Those are some nice recent acquisitions. Hard to set the bindings any further back on that Voit ski eh? Can you imagine trying to ski on that thing riding so far back on the tail? Like riding a bike in a perpetual wheelie.

I guarantee Perc (Dry cleaning fluid/solvent) will work better than anything and it won't harm the carpet fibers. Just get some brake cleaner with a good amount of Perchloroethylene (or they may list it as Tetrachloroethylene or Tetrachloroethene in the ingredients) in it, spray it on a clean rag and then try it on a small part of your oil stain. You will see that It removes the stain very easily and with very little effort needed. There's a reason they use that compound for dry cleaning.

@Ed_Johnson : All six at -35. I didn't think it would end this way. @AdamCord : End? No, the journey doesn't end here. -35 is just a step along the way, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it. @Ed_Johnson : What? Adam? See what? @AdamCord : White shores, -38 and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise. @Ed_Johnson : Well, that isn't so bad. @AdamCord : No. No, it isn't.” :)

@braindamage No, this is not a sick joke; it's for real. I take a little offence (not a lot but a little) at the insinuation that I would try to do something like that. I'm just reporting what I was told by a very experienced boat and RV upholstery guy and reporting on the results I've had with it. @Gloersen WD40 does not dissolve or harm vinyl in any way. It contains a number of oils that vinyl readily absorbs and that help preserve and condition it. From my experience, it works really well so I'll continue to use it. Those of you who have commented can choose not to try it if you don't want to but others who may be a little more open minded might be willing to give it a try and see for themselves. I was a little skeptical too at first but curiosity got me and I tried it out on a small out-of-the-way area on my boat's upholstery and was quite surprised and pleased with the results. I've since done all of the vinyl upholstery in my boat once a year for the last 4 or 5 years and the results have been excellent. If any of you don't want to try it then fine, don't. That's your choice to make. Again, I'm simply reporting what I was told by someone who knows a LOT about conditioning and maintaining vinyl upholstery and what I've found from using it so that people have the information and can consider trying it themselves. If you're not open to hearing the information and/or trying it for yourself that's fine, don't try it but please keep in mind that no one who hasn't actually tried it is in a position to make any sort of comment or judgement on how well it may or may not work (not saying that anyone has done that) because they simply have no data. I do and I'm telling you it works very well and I'll happily continue using it. I haven't used these other products that people have mentioned so I can't say anything about how well WD40 works in comparison to those products. It may work better or it may not work as well. I simply don't know. I can only say from experience that WD40 works very well as a conditioner and preservative for vinyl boat upholstery and the cost of using it is minimal.

I don't know if most people know this or not but in case it's not well known I thought I'd pass along this tip I got from a 30+ year experienced boat upholstery guy that did a little upholstery work on my boat a few years ago. I figured that with all of the years he's been restoring and repairing boat upholstery he'd know what he's talking about so I followed his advice and it has worked very well for me. As such, I can personally attest to this advice being good. He said the best product out there for keeping vinyl upholstery supple and to prevent it from drying and cracking and fading over time is good ol' WD40. I found that news to be very surprising but he said WD40 has a number of oils in it that vinyl loves and absorbs very well. He said to apply it in the cool shade by spraying it over a small section, allow it to soak in for a minute or so and wiping the area down with a rag to rub more of the oils into the material and wipe away any excess. Or you can spray one rag with lots of WD40, rub it into one small area of the upholstery, let it soak in for a bit and then wipe it off with another rag. Go along patch by patch until you've done all of the vinyl. If you have one person moving along applying it and another following behind doing the wiping and buffing, you can get a whole boat done very quickly. Where I have my boat, once a year is plenty. Those of you who live in areas with a much longer boating season may want to do it a couple or more times a year, depending on the need. He said if you keep applying the WD40 year after year, your boat upholstery will look better and last much longer than it otherwise would and that in his experience, WD40 works as well or better than any expensive vinyl upholstery product out there but at a way lower cost. I have applied WD40 to my boat's vinyl upholstery once a year for 3 or 4 years now and it has worked great for me. The vinyl has stayed very supple and lustrous and the colors still pop like when the boat was new. I know someone is going to ask about the smell and it's been my experience that the vinyl may smell a little like WD40 right at first but that goes away very quickly - like within an hour or less. The upholstery may also feel a little oily right after the WD40 has been applied but that also goes away very quickly. Thereafter, the vinyl just feels "fresh" and supple - like new vinyl. The great thing about it is that it's incredibly cheap for how effective it is. Get one of those big economy sized cans and you probably won't use more than a buck or two's worth of WD40 to do your whole boat once over. Tough to beat for the price. If you're skeptical about this tip then just try it out in one small out-of-the-way spot and see how it goes. Has anyone else used WD40 for treating/conditioning vinyl upholstery?

I've never been a fan of purple, especially that shade, but it would certainly be a great tug for an avowed Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens or LA Lakers fan. The hull does look like it could really use a good waxing but it's hard to argue that $8,500 is not a sweet deal for a boat like that even if it is purple and needs a little bit of work. Methinks someone should snag that puppy before it's too late. B)

FWIW, I have a ski fanatic friend who bought a 3 or 4 year old Prostar from the local waterski club. He's only had it for a year but so far he has no complaints, has had no problems and is very happy with the purchase.

If you can find a brake cleaner product that still contains a goodly amount of Perchloroethylene AKA Tetrachloroethylene also AKA Tetrachloroethene that will work well. Perch is the solvent dry cleaners use so it will work very well for getting oil staining out of most carpets or clothes or for taking a lot of different stains out of a lot of different textiles and fabrics for that matter. I have used it myself for taking oil and/or grease stains out of carpet and it worked great. You used to be able to get brake cleaner that had a high Perch content but since it's a nasty pollutant in the environment (it's on the EPA list of priority pollutants), I believe they've had to either eliminate it from or greatly reduce the amount there can be in brake cleaner so it might now be hard to find a brake cleaner product with very much of it in it. If you happen to have an old spray can of Brake Cleaner from back in the day kicking around, you just might find that it has a high Perch content. If it does, don't use for parts cleaning. Save it for tricky/tough stain removal and be careful how you use it.

Honestly, all I said was @Horton was going to be our driver today and @The_MS just ran off screamin'...

Well I'll be a son of a gun! To be honest with yuh, I thought he was full of crap always goin' on about how the rapture was gonna occur this weekend...

I'm skiing on one of Thibaut's old HO slalom skis. B) It was his backup ski. He sold off all his HO gear when he went over to Connelly and I was lucky enough to get one of his slalom skis.

@The_MS, @A_B , was there a waterski in the pictures you posted? :*

Me paddling my two dogs around backdropped by a very smokey sunset

I have a Voit Dragon slalom ski from the 70s on display at my cabin. Those skis are much older than the Dragon

@6balls, @Than_Bogan Out here in Western Canada we call those skinny houses "grain elevators". ;)

Finally, I see a clear path to how l can get to that next level in my skiing!

I accidentally let the original ad on SIA expire so I've created a new one. Thought I'd give this post it's annual bump so people who haven't seen it have a chance to see it and to update this thread with the new SIA link. Here it is: https://ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Misc&postid=57943

Shuswap Lake, BC, Canada

I have had old outboards fall off the dock and be submerged in several feet of (fresh) water and they were easy to revive and get started again. A modern boat with a modern engine with all the engine electronics and all the boat's electronics too is a very different story. I could give advice on what you'd need to do to get an old school motor with no electronics restarted but something as complicated and full of sophisticated electronics as a MC Prostar is orders of magnitude beyond my pay grade. The only comfort I can offer is that at least it's just fresh water intrusion and not saltwater. The motor and at least some of the electronics may be salvageable because of that. Wish I could help more. If I may speak for all on this forum, pass along our sympathy and best wishes from the people on the BOS forum.

@Wormsloe Not a problem. The eTec is a 2 stroke yet it runs cleaner and has as good of fuel economy than a 4 stroke. Plus it's at least 100 lbs lighter and has over 130 less moving parts than a 4 stroke of the same horsepower. It's an amazing feat of engineering. I frequently have 3 people in the boat plus a couple medium sized dogs and we can haul a 200 lb skier up as fast as they want to be without any problem. Great hole shot. The Glastron SSV hull is also a terrific design so you owe it to yourself to look at their boats as a possibility. Terrific boats.

@Wormsloe I don't know what size of boat you're looking for but if something in the 18 foot range will do, I highly recommend a Glastron 180 GT. I have one and the wake is great for skiing. Also is very stable, rides very well even in rough water, very well made and handles very nicely. Throw an Evinrude eTec 150 or 150 HO on it and you've got yourself a winning combination. eTecs are great in every respect. Don't even look at any other type of outboard IMO.

@2Valve Thanks. Doc says to stay off strenuous activity for 2 weeks after surgery. After that, 100% back to normal. I finished my summer vacation so I think my ski season is pretty much over already unless a friend of mine takes his boat out to a local reservoir and invites me to come along. I would really love to get another couple skis in this year!

@mmskiboat It is important that you read this thread. I had a proven documented (ultrasound) torn rotator cuff muscle (supraspinatus) and had fantastic results with the therapy discussed therein. If it works for you as well as it did for me, it could help speed your recovery considerably. @vtmecheng you may want to have a look at it as well. In fact, anyone who has soft tissue injuries that are being difficult to heal using conventional methods should have a look. /forum#/discussion/20415/something-that-may-be-of-interest-for-those-with-rotator-cuff-injuries